Related resources for this article

The term farce refers to a form of comedy in which plot and situations are exaggerated, the effects often being ridiculous. The term also refers to the class or form of drama made up of such compositions. Critics generally regard farce, with its stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and often violent horseplay, as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy. However, the genre has been sustained by its popularity in performance and has persisted throughout the Western world to the present.

Antecedents of farce are found in ancient Greek and Roman theater, both in the comedies of Aristophanes and Plautus and in the popular native Italian fabula Atellana (Atellan play), entertainments in which the actors played stock character types—such as glutton, graybeard, and clown—who were caught in exaggerated situations.

It was in 15th-century France that the term farce was first used to describe the elements of clowning, acrobatics, caricature, and indecency found together within a single form of entertainment. Such pieces were initially bits of impromptu buffoonery inserted by actors into the texts of religious plays—hence the use of the Old French word farce, meaning “stuffing.” French farce spread quickly throughout Europe, notable examples being the interludes of John Heywood in 16th-century England. Shakespeare and Molière eventually came to use elements of farce in their comedies.

Farce continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries; in France, Eugène-Marin Labiche’s Le Chapeau de paille d’Italie (1851; An Italian Straw Hat) and Georges Feydeau’s La Puce à l’oreille (1907; A Flea in Her Ear) were notable successes. Farce also surfaced in music hall, vaudeville, and boulevard entertainments.

Farce survived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in such plays as Charley’s Aunt (1892) by Brandon Thomas and found new expression in film comedies with Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Kops, and the Marx Brothers. The farces presented at the Aldwych Theatre, London, between the world wars were enormously popular, and numerous successful television comedy shows attest to the durability of the form. Two examples from the second half of the century are the Italian Dario Fo’s Morte accidentale di un anarchico (1974; Accidental Death of an Anarchist) and Michael Frayn’s Noises Off (1982).

It’s here: the NEW Britannica Kids website!

We’ve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. We hope you and your family enjoy the NEW Britannica Kids. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements!

The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages.

Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops.

Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards.

A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar.

Want to see it in action?

Start a free trial

E-mail

To

From

Sender NamePlease enter your name.

Sender EmailPlease enter a valid email address.

Translate this page

Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. Please note: Text within images is not translated, some features may not work properly after translation, and the translation may not accurately convey the intended meaning. Britannica does not review the converted text.

After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar.